US to Loan One-Third of Heating Oil Reserve to Tame Prices — 315,000 Barrels Due by November 13 as Diesel Nears Record Highs
The United States moved to release emergency fuel supplies to ease rising heating costs ahead of winter, announcing plans to loan up to 315,000 barrels of heating oil — about one-third — from the 1-million-barrel Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. The Energy Department said deliveries would be completed by November 13, and heating oil prices fell toward $4.80 a gallon on the news.
How the Release Will Work
The department will run a competitive bidding process so fuel retailers and terminal holders can get the oil flowing into areas facing shortages. The reserve holds oil in Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the administration was “committed to doing everything in our power to lower energy costs,” describing the move as a temporary response to supply disruptions.
Senator Susan Collins said on X that the release equals a 13% supply increase for New England and would push down the region’s heating oil costs this winter. About 4% of American households rely on heating oil, concentrated in the northeastern states.
Analysts Are Skeptical
Not everyone is convinced the release will matter. Tom Kloza, chief energy adviser at Gulf Oil, called the move “puzzling and probably inconsequential,” saying it should have no impact on prices. The East Coast consumes roughly 1.2 million barrels of diesel and other distillates daily, dwarfing the size of the release.
Average retail diesel prices have hovered around $6.32 a gallon in recent days, according to the AAA motorist organization, after hitting a record of $6.52 last month.
A Bigger Emergency Drawdown
The heating-oil loan follows an earlier administration agreement to loan 172 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which now sits at its lowest level since 1982, as the government tries to control crude prices that have climbed during the Iran war.
The administration is also backing the Williams Companies’ Constitution natural gas pipeline project, which would ship Pennsylvania-produced gas to heat homes in New York and New England. This week the government released up to $42 million in Cold War-era Defense Production Act funding for initial work on the project, which New York has blocked on environmental grounds.
The Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve was established under President Bill Clinton and is designed to cover roughly 10 days of regional supply. It was previously drawn down after Hurricane Sandy and major snowstorms in 2012.
Sources: Reuters reporting (21 October 2026), TradingView News (21 October 2026).